Fun in the Kitchen

We’ve had a very productive week. I had fun making cookies with everyone last Friday and look forward to taking creative pictures this Friday. We read a lovely storey about Harp Seals earlier this week and are continuing to work through plant cells and ideas like photosynthesis in science. We will have our second vocabulary quiz on Thursday.

Irisa has continued her strong work in the classroom. She got a little nervous about working on the Tree House TV show but that seems to have worked itself out. This should be a fun opportunity to show off her outstanding work. I hope she will realize that she has been chosen because she is one of the brightest, most well spoken students in the school.

I had a talk with Kevin before class yesterday. He is a bright, charismatic young man but he needs to stop distracting his classmates. This type of behavior will not be tolerated. He has a great deal of potential and I hope we can set him on track this semester.

Perry found himself in a spot of trouble yesterday for goofing off when he should have been reading a definition from the dictionary to the class. He’s a smart kid with a great spirit. We’ll continue to work on his attitude in the classroom. He volunteered to let us use his digital camera for a class project on Friday. Please don’t forget to charge the batteries!

Jordan has opened up a little more. I’m glad to see him flashing a smile from time to time and he has been reading out loud a good deal in class. I singled him out to answer questions a few times and he was right on the ball. I’m glad to see he’s paying attention.

Andy has been extremely productive in class this last week. I’m very pleased to see him doing such great work. He has been asking intelligent questions and staying on task. Keep it up!

Iris has had another strong week. Her sentences in her vocabulary book are very smart. She should make an effort to experiment with compound sentence patterns like, “My little sister is so stubborn sometimes that it drives me crazy” rather than simple ones such as, “I don’t like stubborn people.”

Jessica has been working much more productively with her partner this week. Keep up the good work!

Week 3

It was so nice to speak with all of you last Friday. Thank you for finding time in your schedules to come visit our class. I hope you enjoyed yourselves. We’ve had another productive week. Just a little reminder, please do try to check the blog as I will be updating it every Thursday.

There seems to be some confusion about Kevin’s schedule on Mondays. He arrived an hour and fifteen minutes late for class. The class is only two hours long. Our time in class is valuable. We discuss the material as we read in a manner that is hard to reproduce at home. If Kevin does continue to arrive late, he will need to arrive in a quiet manner as not to disrupt the other students.

Perry got into a spot of trouble on Tuesday afternoon for not paying attention during group reading. He was leafing through the pages of his book and making jokes with another student who was sitting on the far side of the classroom. It’s a small class. There are only 6 other students. I can’t imagine how he thinks his behavior will go unnoticed. He’s such a bright boy and he has a great spirit about him but I’m going to be very hard on him when it comes to focusing as I think it will be for his own benefit.

I’ve been pushing Jordan to read out loud a disproportionate amount in class. He actually reads out loud quite well. He’s been opening up a little more in class. We’ll keep at it.

Andy has had a great week. Two of the other boys were misbehaving in class the other day and not only did him not join in, but he chastised them for bothering him while he was trying to focus on the group reading. He still needs to keep his questions on task but I’m proud of the progress he is making.

Jessica has had another productive week. I’ve been forcing her to work together in a group to finish her bookwork in class. I think group work is an important skill and one she needs learn. We’ll keep at it.

Iris has been doing well. She’s always well behaved and focused. I’d like to see her making better use of the time she has before class to review new vocabulary.

Irisa is in a similar situation to Iris. She’s also very well behaved and focused. But I’d like to see her, too, using the free time before class to review new vocabulary rather than chatting with her friends.

Preparing to Potluck

We’ve had a good second week. Our class has filled out and I’ve been enjoying getting to know each one of the students. This week we have covered a large range of material learning the ins and outs of space ships and endangered species, protists and chloroplasts. We have a lot of material to cover, so it is important that we keep on task during class time. I had a great time playing laser tag last Friday. I think the students did too. I’m looking forward to the chance to chat with the parents this Friday during our Potluck. I hope to see you all soon!

Andy asks lots of questions. Many are intelligent, genuine questions and that is to be encouraged. From time to time, Andy gets a little off topic. He should be encouraged to remain focused in the classroom.

Kevin is a very bright student. He needs to focus in class and stay on topic. We do a lot of group work in class. He needs to work on being a positive group member.

Perry has been better about focusing in class but still needs reminding to stay on topic. He’s moving in the right direction.

Jessica is has been doing solid individual work. She needs to work on being a positive team member for group work.

Jordan is still a little intimidated by me. I hope, as he grows more accustomed to his new teacher, he will begin to play a more outgoing role in class.

Iris is extremely bright and has been working hard. Keep up the good work.

Irisa speaks extremely well and focuses in class. She also reads with a native speaker’s intonation, character and charisma. She has been outgoing and well behaved.

Welcome Grade 4 Romans!

It's been a great week and I've enjoyed getting to know each of our students. This is clearly and extremely bright, hardworking class. I've already been very impressed with their level. They keep laughing when I ask them if they know words which "are soooo grade 2 level." I hope that this semester we will have fun and be productive. I run my classroom a little different than some other teachers and I recognize that it takes many students some time to get used to. I welcome the challenge and I hope your children do as well.

Andy is clearly and extremely bright, inquisitive young man. He asks lots of questions and is very interested in learning. There are times when he speaks out of turn or gets a little to excited in class. There are also times when he thinks that I am treating him unfairly. He needs to learn to wait his turn and not try to speak over other students. I welcome his questions but I don't tolerate being interrupted by students in my classroom. We will need to work together to find a middle ground where everybody can learn productively and have fun together.

Perry is a bright young man and also asks lots of questions in class. Sometimes his questions are productive and sometimes they are off topic. I hope that he will put an effort into keeping on topic in class and not asking questions simply to get a laugh out of his friends.

Kevin has similar problems to Perry. He is also extremely bright and also gets over excited and off topic very easily. I hope he will try to stay focused on the subjects we are learning during class time this semester.

Irisa is very bright, focused and generally interested in learning. She reads with emotion and character uncommon in learners of English as a second language.

Iris is also smart, well behaved and hard working. I look forward to getting to know her better over the semester.

Jessica is a little quieter than her classmates. We will work on her reading fluency and speaking out over the coming semester.

Jordan is also a little quieter than his classmates but when he does speak, he speaks accurately. New teachers can be intimidating to some students, especially foreign men. We will work on him speaking out over the coming semester.